Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
Ex girlfriend asks me to do a critical favour for her involving long lineups at federal building. The thing is, where I am going, lineups usually abound after 10:00am. So the objective was to get there between 8-9am. However, in order to do this favour, I have to meet her first at her company, which is clear across town. The federal office in question is in the northern middle part of the city.
6:30am: Get up. Realize that I tossed and turned last night, so while I went to bed at around 12am the night before, I didn't actually fall asleep until 2:30am.
7:00am: After a few snooze button hits, I finally manage to drag my sorry butt to the shower.
7:30am: Decide that cereal and milk won't cut it to me this morning. Get into my 1996 Pontiac Sunfire. Off to the local McDonalds to get a Sausage Egg with a Large Hot Chocolate.
7:40am: Drive to McDonalds on my way to the expressway. Seems that the girls there are already prepared for me (I'm what they call a regular visitor). So once I get in, the cup is in the Hot Chocolate maker, and the girl is already fetching my Sausage egg and Hash Brown. I fetch my cash, pick up my grub. Time of transaction: 73 seconds.
8:20am: Get to ex's place of work, only to realize that she is in a different office today. No worries, this office is not too far away. Notice that Oil light is on.
8:30am: Meet Ex. She gives me required documents, as well as drivers licence and citizenship card, with instructions to return them ASAP since she needs to drive home. I make wry remark about walking home, after all, it is an hour walk home (which isn't THAT bad). Fill up oil with tank dad gave to me when I got the car.
9:00am: Reach Federal building. Start lining up to check in and to get a number te served (yes, thats right, line up to check in and get a number). Decide time is right to finish off my Sausage egg.
10:00am: Finish first lineup. Fetch seat next to wall. Feeling tired, cecide to conk out for awhile. My number is 145, they are at 88. Out of sixteen booths available, only 6 are filled. Lineups, another fancy word for Beaurocracy.
11:30am: I wake up after a nice nap. They are now at number 131. Wait patiently for my turn.
12:00am: My number is in. Spend a good hour haggling with federal beaurocrat, after all, it isn't my ex at the building with these documents. Finally manage to see the damn transaction through. Recover her Drivers Licence and Citizenship card.
1:00pm: Proceed back to her second office.
1:30pm: Meet her in the back of the building. Fetch her belongings in the car and prepare to give them back to her. Open the door, lock it, then shut it. With the keys in the ignition.
DAMMIT.
I give Ex her licence and card, but she has a meeting to go to, so she can't help out. She does know a friend with the CAA so she could ask for some help, maybe a truck with a SlimJim. Notice that it is beginning to rain.
1:45pm: Begin pacing around. It is beginning to rain more and more, and I recalled hearing a forecast saying it was just about to get a lot COLDER. Oh boy. Flag down a truck. Explain situation to driver. He can't help, he doesn't know how. Oh well. Realize that my cellphone is also in the car, so ex can't contact me, nor can I contact her.
2pm: Notice someone dumping trash at a nearby building. Ask him for a tool to allow me to get into my car. Goes into his building, then comes out with a very large flathead screwdriver. Instructs me to pry down the window wide enough to get my arm in. Unfortunately, the driver's side car window does not work they way he thought it would work.
2:10pm: He comes back with a flat piece of steel, bent into a hook. If I could wedge that hook in and snag the lock, then I could get in. Only thing is that the hook is too wide for me to get it wedged in. Decide to try the other way, to see if I could push the lock open with the other end, but realize that the rod is too flexible. I need something a little more rigid.
2:20pm: A door repair truck pulls out. I explain the situation to the two men. While one goes about his business, the other looks at my car to ascertain the situation. I explain to him that I need a rigid piece of metal to push the lock into unlocking position. He produces such a rod, then as he pries the window slightly open with the screwdriver, I insert the rod then try to push it to the lock.
2:30pm: After a few attempts, the lock flips open. The door is unlocked, and I'm in my car. Profusely thank the two men. They refuse any payment, so I leave them my number and tell them they can contact me if they have any computer problems. Return the flathead and the other piece of metal to the other company (which turns out to be a tool and die store). Again, profusely thank them, offer to pay, they refuse, leave them my number.
2:45: Contact ex. She was able to find someone who could help, but since I am now in my car, everything is fine. She calls coworker, telling him everything is ok. She then tells me that she will call me for dinner at a later date, for services performed this morning.
Ugh, what a day. Worse off, this could all be easier if I had auto roadside service on my cell. Then I would have called them (even on a different phone) to have them help me out in a shorter period of time. With the age of my car, I could be calling them for other situations, like, being stuck in the middle of the highway....
You live, you learn.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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If they see somthing they want they can just open the door thus sparing me the broken glass and them the possibility of getting cut.
-------------------- Like A Bat Out Of Hell...
Registered: Aug 2001
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
Moral of the story: never do your ex-girlfriend ANY favors unless she wants you back. Oh, and bring a spare set of keys. B)
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
I always make sure to put my key on my belt buckle while still sitting in the car before I even bother to open the door and get out.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Interesting concept, Harry, but I don't think it'll catch on...
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
Thats why they invented power locks, Harry. Hit the lock button, close the door, walk away, it locks itself and honks 5 seconds later.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I once thought that I locked my keys in the truck. Myself and two friends were in another city, going into a store. At the time, I was storing all my stuff (keys, wallet, phone) in the pouch of my sweater, but this particular instance I had clipped the keys to my belt loop. Gave us quite the scare. Have yet to actually lock my keys in a vehicle, though. *knocks on wood*
-------------------- I haul cardboard and cardboard accessories
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Wait, "power locks" allow you to lock all the doors in the car from the driver's side door without a key, and people think this is a good idea?
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Wait, "power locks" allow you to lock all the doors in the car from the driver's side door without a key, and people think this is a good idea?
It's convenient. People will risk much for convenience.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Like trying to get an ex back. You won't have to learn anything new. Though you also won't experience anything new...
Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
I'm amazed at how quickly I got used to just zapping my car. It's a nifty little gadget, and, to paraphrase Lt. Reed, it has two settings, Lock and Unlock. Simple. So long as my zapper doesn't do like the Phase Pistols and I discover a magical cutting beam that slices the car in half, I'm happy. 8)
posted
Well, that's what I was thinking. Zapping a car locked is already pretty convenient. I don't see how it's MORE convenient to put your keys away before you get out of the car.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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